ICICI Lombard gets ICICI Bank board approval for IPO:

The board of ICICI Bank has approved the stake sale in its general insurance venture ICICI Lombard General Insurance through an initial public offering (IPO). The bank’s life insurance venture ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is the first and only listed insurance entity in India.

“The size and other details of the offer would be determined in due course,” it said. ICICI Lombard is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Fairfax Financial Holdings.

However, sources said that the bank may pare down 8-10 percent for the stake sale. The bankers for the deal have almost been shortlisted and the timeline would also be decided in the next few months.

In a statement to the exchanges, the Bank said that their board on Monday approved the sale of a part of its shareholding in ICICI Lombard in an initial public offering by the company, subject to requisite approvals and market conditions.